Overview Xiaomi Redmi Note 5a - a budget smartphone that can shoot

Xiaomi Company has gained popularity, not least thanks to smartphones Redmi lineup. This affordable models available that have almost the best value for money on the market.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 5a - new member of this series, the value of which at the time of writing is about $ 120. For the money we are promised a large bright screen, high quality camera and economical Qualcomm Snapdragon processor 425. Layfhaker checked whether this is in fact so.

Specifications

Smartphone Xiaomi Redmi Note 5a has two versions: a conventional, which visited our edition, with the prefix Prime, characterized enlarged capacity memory and storage capacity.

When viewing the base model Performance Redmi Note 5a immediately striking its budgetary. Snapdragon processor 425, even in the time of occurrence can not be called productive. It comprises a total of four 64-bit processor core Cortex-A53 with a frequency up to 1.4 GHz and GPU Adreno 308.

The memory subsystem causes a feeling of pity: 2 GB of RAM is rarely seen even today in the third tier smartphone manufacturers, the same can be said about the ROM.

However, in reality it is not so bad as it seems. Speed ​​of the device is determined not only gigahertz and gigabytes, but the program stuffing. The smartphone shows sufficient performance for most custom applications. In doing so, we shall see below with the help of test programs.

Packaging and appearance

Smartphone Xiaomi Redmi Note 5a comes in a small cardboard box with red cap. In it we find himself smartphone charger, USB-cable, clip to extract the tray and a small booklet with instructions.

supplied very humble, no additional accessories manufacturer did not provide. And we are already so accustomed to, that most smartphones have recently completed films and protective glasses, brand covers and other useful things. It is a pity that Xiaomi has remained aloof from this trend.

Housing Redmi Note 5a looks totally metal. However, a closer look reveals that the rear cover is still plastic. In its upper part placed peephole main camera and flash.

The screen is covered with a protective glass device with quality oleophobic coating. Under it - the touch buttons are not illuminated. At the top of the front panel has a peephole of the front camera, earpiece and LED notifications, which can shine only in white.

On the right side is a button on and the volume rocker on the opposite - the tray to install the SIM card and the memory card. He, incidentally, trohsektsionny, so now do not have to choose between the second Simcoe to SD-card.

On the bottom of the smartphone fit connector for charging and data transfer, a microphone and an external speaker. The upper bound is reserved for additional microphone, headphone jack and IrDA.

In general, selection of materials and assembly do not leave the impression that this is a budget device. All surfaces are perfectly processed, the paint is applied qualitatively, not rattle button. The device fits comfortably in the hand thanks to a small thickness and rounded edges.

Display and Audio

At Redmi Note 5a quality 5.5-inch screen with a resolution of 1280 × 720 pixels. Despite the low resolution, the picture quality can be assessed as high. Even the gaze will not be able to find here no pixelation, warped fonts or other defects.

Screen brightness in its rightmost position is quite enough for comfortable use on the street. And at the very low value of the brightness can be easily read at night without fear of his eyes. To do this, by the way, the phone has a special reading mode, if enabled, removed harmful blue light screen.

External speaker device loud enough, the call notification and heard well. However, this does not help when listening to music, as the frequency of the sound does not shine. It is quite another thing, if you want to use this device as a music player in a pair with decent headphones. In this case, the sound will delight you.

Performance

As we mentioned above, the high-performance Redmi Note 5a can not boast. This is not surprising: after all in front of us a budget model. However, this does not mean that you will experience the agony when using your smartphone.

With the majority of everyday tasks, this model handles smoothly. Surfing the web, chat, listen to music and watch videos on the Redmi Note 5a succeed is not worse than any other device in this price category. That eloquently prove the test results presented in this section.

Slightly worse situation with the games. Simple arcade platformers, logic puzzles, and Action does not cause difficulties. However, more complex graphically the game will have to run only with low graphics settings.

autonomy

Although the battery capacity Redmi Note 5a is only 3080 mAh, which in our time is fairly modest value autonomy in a good smartphone. With heavy use (surfing, games, ringtones, videos) batteries are almost always enough until the evening. If, however, choose a more gentle treatment, the smartphone can stretch and two days.

This is achieved not only due to good optimization software, but also due to the presence of several MIUI proprietary functions to conserve battery power. For example, it is possible to configure automatic switching performance modes depending on the battery residue, or the flight mode switch during the night.

Infrared

An interesting feature of this device - a built-in infrared port. With it you can control TVs, air conditioning, stereo system, and virtually any other technique that you have in the house.

Built-in application Mi Remote has information on thousands of models of household appliances and smart gadgets. Step by step wizard to quickly set up the necessary interaction with the device. Thereafter Redmi Note 5a turns into a universal remote control, which is always at your fingertips. Very comfortably.

Camera

Poor quality of the photos is a common disease of almost all Chinese budget smartphone. Yes, and not the Chinese, too.

However Redmi Note 5a in this regard is different. In creating this smartphone Xiaomi has decided to save on all components except for the main camera module. We have no accurate data on the matrix of the manufacturer, but it produces great pictures.

In normal daylight, the pictures are saturated with good detail and proper exposure. It is a pleasure to look at these pictures, I promise.

But the real shock we experienced during the overnight session. In low light conditions the camera Redmi Note 5a able to demonstrate an acceptable quality pictures even in situations where it is much more expensive smartphones drew a black square Malevich.

Software

Smartphone Redmi Note 5a has arrived to us from the Anglo-Chinese version of MIUI 8. This means that any Google services, no Google Play catalog of applications on it has not been established. Nevertheless, after simple manipulations operating system has been updated to the actual date MIUI 9 installed Google Play, and all necessary applications.

It is more difficult to deal with localization. Although the network has already appeared an international version of the firmware, install it on the device is not possible due to a locked bootloader. When Redmi Note 5a it will be possible to obtain permission to unlock, known only to the company Xiaomi.

However, most buyers do not encounter similar problems, as sellers initially set localized firmware. However, in any case, to clarify this matter before you buy, if you're going to do it in one of the Chinese online stores.

results

The smartphone has turned out interesting. He has a bright screen quality, good sound, comfortable housing. Although the device can not boast high performance, it is one of the most attractive models in the lower price range.

Trump Redmi Note 5a - camera. Images of this quality in the segment up to $ 150 just did not find. So if you need a budget camera phone from a trusted manufacturer, then take a look just to the Redmi Note 5a.

At the time of this writing, the price of the smartphone Xiaomi Redmi Note 5a is 6929 rubles.

The author expresses his gratitude to the store GearBest for providing the test device.